Posted by Sabrina B. @gametimegirl
The Boston Celtics are aggressively trying to trade Rajon Rondo, their fourth-leading scorer and one of the NBA’s best point guards, sources told ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard.
The Celtics find Rondo’s personality to be too high-maintenance and his clashes with coach Doc Rivers remain an off-court distraction, sources told Broussard, and the front office is now actively pitching him to other teams. With the Celtics realizing they are no longer title contenders, they don’t believe his point guard prowess is worth the headaches Rondo brings, sources say. And they do not want to build around him.
In December, the Celtics had discussions with Golden State about a Stephen Curry-for-Rondo deal, and one source says it was Golden State that decided against pulling the trigger. But Curry’s recent ankle injuries, which have caused him several problems in his short career, have given the Celtics pause.
The potential trade is still being discussed by Boston’s braintrust, but they aren’t sure they want to go forward with it. It also isn’t clear whether the Warriors would be willing to do it. Other players would have to be thrown in to make it work financially.
Danny Ainge acknowledged earlier this season that Rondo’s name came up in trade talks when the Celtics tried to acquire Chris Paul from the Hornets, but he said he wasn’t shopping Rondo per se and that his name came up only because Ainge was trying to add a player of Paul’s caliber.
“I was not trying to trade Rajon Rondo,” Ainge told Boston sports radio WEEI in January. “There’s a big difference between trying to acquire a player and trying to trade a player.”
If the Celtics are now actively shopping Rondo, it would seem to be a change of course.
Rondo, 26, was suspended for two games earlier in February for throwing a ball at an official and striking him in the chest during a loss in Detroit. He played in only 22 games during the first half of the season because of both the suspension and a sprained right wrist injury.
Rondo had his third triple-double of the season (15 points, 11 rebounds, 10 assists) in the Celtics’ 102-96 win over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, one night after he was held scoreless (with 11 assists) in a win at Cleveland.
Rondo is averaging a career-high 14.1 points per game to go along with 9.6 assists and 1.6 steals.
WRITTEN BY Information from ESPN The Magazine’s Chris Broussard and ESPNBoston.com’s Chris Forsberg was used in this report & FULL STORY HERE
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